Tough as Steel
by ShatteredElement
Summary: It's the infallible rule of life: the happiest of people are always hiding the greatest sadness, and the saddest of people can never be happy again.


**Tough as Steel**

** Chapter One**

** Hope**

Bolin hated the cold. So why he stayed in the small compound at the south pole was really a mystery to him. Even in summer (or what he assumed _should_ have been summer) the temperature rarely got above ten degrees. It was all fine for the airbenders, who had frequently visited, and Korra who had grown up there, and even fore Mako, who could use his fire to keep warm, and Asami, who had a very expensive winter coat from her millionaire days. Bolin was not used to the weather, couldn't produce fire, and definitely never had an expensive _anything_.

Even so, it was beautiful down at the bottom of the world. Every morning Bolin would rise before everyone else and pull on warm clothes before heading outside the walls and just sitting at the edge of the ice and snow, looking out over the water. Then the call for breakfast would ring out, and like all teenage boys he was inside before the food was even on the table.

Everyone would laugh and joke at the table, enjoying each other's company and reveling in Korra's newfound abilities. Tenzin's brother Bumi was also a source of much entertainment; he was an eccentric personality at the very least. Even Asami, after her breakup with Mako, was happy there, having discovered a good friend in Pema and a talent for keeping the airbender children in line. General Iroh had also decided to stay while his fleet was being rebuilt. Only Lin Beifong had left; returning to Republic City to reassume her position as head of the police metalbending force, but she sent letters every now and then, and always seemed happy.

Bolin wished he would have left with her, but he had no real reason to go. His family and friends were all here, the war was over, and life could resume a more leisurely, fun-loving tempo. Fun-loving was practically his middle name, after all, so Bolin knew he should be on top of the world right now. But he wasn't. And as the weeks went by, there was no way to avoid the fact.

Bolin was unhappy.

It wasn't anyone's fault but his; but he just couldn't bring himself to enjoy the precious time spent at the compound. Maybe it was that he was homesick, or maybe it was that his brother and the girl he dreamed about were acting like newlyweds. Or maybe it was that everyone here had somewhere they fit in. Somewhere they belonged and something they could do. Bolin had nothing to contribute but a joke and a laugh, and everyone else seemed to be filling his shoes as of late.

As the days went by he talked less, practiced his earthbending less, and even came out of his room less until the others hardly saw him at all. And the hardest part was, no one seemed to care. Pema brought him food in his room once he stopped coming to meals, and every once in a while Mako would knock on his door, but Bolin always ignored him. His traitor brother, pretending to care about him while he ran around with Korra; _Korra_, who Bolin loved and Mako knew he loved. Everything just felt so messed up.

Only Pabu still came to see him, hopping in through the window every day at noon after spending the morning with Naga. But gradually Pabu appeared later and later until one day he didn't come though the window at all. It was Bolin's worst nightmare coming true in the place he should be the happiest; everyone was abandoning him.

One day there was a small knock on his door, and Bolin could hear Korra calling him from the other side.

"Bolin? Bo? You in there?"

He sighed and got up, walking over to the door and hating himself for not being able to ignore her voice. He slid open the panel and glared at her.

"What is it?"

Korra looked slightly taken aback. "Well geez, no need to get all crabby with me."

Bolin snorted and turned away.

"Wait!"

He looked back at her, and she smiled sheepishly at him.

"Sorry, that was a little abrupt."

"It's okay," he said. His voice was small and scratchy after not using it for so long. He coughed, trying to clear his throat.

Korra looked concerned. "Are you okay, Bo?"

"Yeah," he said, his voice regaining some of its strength. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She nodded. "Mako and I wanted to know if you would come fishing with us today."

"Fishing?"

"Yeah, ice fishing. The old style south pole way! What do you say?"

Bolin shrugged. "I don't know..."

Korra reached out and touched his shoulder. He stiffened and she frowned.

"Bo, you haven't been out of this room in two weeks," she said gravely. "You need to get out. C'mon! It'll be fun!"

She smiled that smile he loved so much, and he melted.

"Alright," he said. "That sounds like fun."

"Yes!" Korra said, punching the air. She ran back to the door and called down the hallway. "Mako! He's coming!"

"Good," Bolin heard his brother call back. "Because I was going to tie him up and drag him along if he said no."

Despite himself, the grouchiness in Mako's voice, so familiar and so comforting, made Bolin laugh. Korra grinned over her shoulder at him and then took off down the hall. Bolin followed hot on her heels, laughing like he was a kid again.

Soon they were out of the compound and onto the ice, Korra creating some holes for them to fish in using her waterbending. They all sat down and cast their rods into the hole, glancing around at the white expanse and the blue water shining in the distance.

Mako looked warmly at his brother. "It's great to see you smiling again Bo," he said, his voice genuine. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten how."

Bolin laughed. "Me? Nah, there's no way I could do that. It's my natural expression!"

They all laughed.

The day went by quickly, and as night fell, Korra leaned into Mako for warmth. Bolin's face dropped into stoicism again, and he looked down at his feet.

"I can't believe it's been six months since the war ended," Korra mused, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah," Mako agreed. "It feels like it's been forever."

Bolin thought back to the war. It was the one time when he, Mako, and Korra had all worked as a unit. The one time he had felt that they were truly friends. In a way, he missed those days, because no matter how horrible things were, they always pulled through together. Now, Mako and Korra worked things out on their own, and Bolin felt like he was living back on the streets; alone, with no one to take care of him, alone; with no one hearing his silent cries for help.

"Yeah, it does," he agreed with his brother, forcing a smile.

"No matter what happens, we'll always make it through this," Korra said.

For a moment, hope flared in Bolin's chest. Hope that things were going to get back to the way they were, hope that Korra and Mako would finally bring him back into their circle, hope that maybe someone loved him after all.

Then Korra smiled up at Mako, and he smiled back before kissing her lightly on the lips.

The hope extinguished itself.

There was never a time that Bolin felt less like laughing.


End file.
